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Hi there, This is my recent project, a nice Airfix kit. Not my usual scale, but this bird in 1/48 just won’t fit my space here. Except Eduard Masks, a must for all these clear parts, everything else OOB. Fitting is nice in general, except for the clear parts that build into the tail gun structure being too narrow for the fuselage, which causes a step. Also, after glueing the fuselage halves, I ended up with a gap right in front of the windshield. Despite this, the clear part for the “canopy” structure fitted well with the gap. So, instead of forcing the halves to join, I just put some additional plastic between them and the result was fine. Decals a little bit too thick, but with the help of Mr Setter, went really well. Hope you enjoy! Cheers!

Hi all, here my fresh built C-130H by Zvezda in 1:72. Used Cracal decals for a 120th AW Montana ANG Hercules. The rest is OOB🙂.

Hello everybody. Now i will show you my latest model. It's a Bf. 109G-1 from AZ plus echparts from Brengun and Pitot/MG's from Master Model. The model from Az is very good i think. A vew jears ago i had build a G-2 and it was also good to build. Painted is it with colors from MRP except the RLM76. That is from Gunze. The MRP RLM76 are to green, i think. It fits bette as a variant. The Airplane flew Leutnant Heinz Knocke, Squadron Captain 5./JG.11 at 1943. But now, see it.

I took the opportunity to do some fresh images today while tidying up my built stash and clearing out some stuff. So to start with here is part of my big collection of Canadian subjects. Trainers. ALL 1/72nd. Airfix Harvard and SH Fairchild Cornell Back row: Bolingbroke(new tool Airfix Blenheim), Special Hobby Anson, Front row: RS Models Oxford, FRROM /Azur Fleet Finch and Pavla Tiger Moth Middle back row Academy Ventura modified and Avioelogy decals. Back row: Much Modified Airfix Hawk, Hobbycraft Tutor, Hasegawa CT-133

Hi, another Russian aircrft completed, the Sukhoi Su-7BM `Fitter'. This was the first Modelsvit kit I bought and they have come on leaps and bounds since then. The kit itself just need cleaning up in a few places and careful alignment and filler in a few places. If I was to do another one I would add locating pins. The aluminium was Vallejo Metal colour 716 Semi matt Aluminium which is the new formula one, which sprays really well. The decals are from the kit and spare box. Also I added metal pitot tubes and gun barrels, a resin seat and a vacform canopy. The base is just foam board cut, masked and painted. Regards Robert

Another my somewhat older model, I hope you like it too. Originally this plane was E-3 version, later refurbished for E-7. I added extra Aires cockpit, Squadron vacu canopy and made some minor extras in cockpit area i.e. exterior armoured glass. Decals are mix of Hasegawa and Airfix (crosses). Pilot was Tiberiu Vinca (you can see white TV letters graphic sign under canopy) , he shot 13 soviet planes, was killed 13 March 1944 after friendly fire from German He-111. Another interesting info: Here you can find more informations: https://www.worldwar2.ro/arr/p007.htm Best regards, Michał.

Lockdown build number 5 of this year & the last one before I go back to work. Another three month shielding period over, good for modelling time but also looking forward to being in contact with other human beings - at a distance mind! Like a lot of my models, they get built then go into hibernation mode waiting to get completed sitting on the dusty shelves of plastic doom while I get distracted by other more colourful subjects. So this had been sitting there for a good couple of years, it's the Zvezda 1/72 kit. It's not too bad, there's reasonable detail in some places but not others. For a relatively cheap kit for its size I can understand them not wanting to include intake trunks & exhaust tubes, but no one except the house spiders are going to inspect them! I added plenty of agricultural Russian rivets to this one, to give it more interest & used a pitot from Master as is usual for me. The decal sheet which comes with the kit includes around 20 odd decals for a pretty non descript airframe, so I obtained the Begemot decal package. Fifty options & what looked like 400 or therabouts decals. So I used as many stencils as I could get onto it to make the vast expanses of grey look more interesting. The only other extras were some brass rod used for the airbrake/undercarriage doors & the canopy actuators. One day I might get a set of steps for the pilots. Can't believe how tiny they look next to this thing! Russian Federation Air Force MiG-31BM BuNo.92 3958th GuAB Savasleyka airbase Novgorod 2010 Markings employed especially for the 2010 May Day Parade. Also used a bit of artistic license when it came to installing the missiles on the wings with the fuel tanks outboard, even though they are rarely if ever seen attached to those pylons. I blame Zvezda for that! Vallejo Model Color paints Used some Tamiya weathering powders & AK weathering pencils Thanks for looking! Martin

An inexpensive impulse buy a few weeks ago and a delight to build. Brush painted with Tamiya acrylics, with weathering from various oil and acrylic washes. Tried a bit of dry brushing with oils for the first time - happy with how it worked out. Markings from the box for a vehicle in France 1918. From my reading around it was likely with the 17th (Armoured Car) Battalion of the Tank Corps, although markings may be spurious. Thanks for looking.

First go at airbrushing and chipping, still plenty to learn and improve on, but this is only my 4th kit after learning the ropes on some Airfix starter kits. May finish the kit off with a Matt varnish, but not looking too glossy at the moment. Must say, this hobby is addictive, planning next build already. Andy

Hello gents! Here is the Sword model of the Reggiane 2001, previously only available in the Classic Airframe range, and not an easy kit. The Sword model is better but still has a side on the cottage industry. With a good documentation it can be turned in to something nice despite the monotony of a green over grey camo. The Re 2001 were heavily involved during the figt over Malta and were quite a match for British fighters if the dog fight was at a low or medium altitude. So here is the plane of Capitano Salvatore Teja leader of the 152a Squadriglia 2° Gruppo autonomo, San Pietro di Caltagirone in June 42. Decals are very good but I used a mix of those and home made masks. Best regards. 7C9166ED-1E83-492C-957D-8517D8A5AF1A_1_201_a by jean Barby, sur Flickr E847B54A-E2B1-4FC3-B352-96B0DFDB2BAD_1_201_a by jean Barby, sur Flickr 6A004763-111C-4CDE-8279-2244E6C6CDCE_1_201_a by jean Barby, sur Flickr 084E163C-B6FB-4D28-B68E-FA1753567F1C_1_201_a by jean Barby, sur Flickr C65682FD-DA85-420F-B26A-3A522E3C83BF_1_201_a by jean Barby, sur Flickr C69448D6-4EFC-4A17-84EC-B2FBF19E3557_1_201_a by jean Barby, sur Flickr 71FA1B75-18F4-411F-8E10-09B1A2FD5602_1_201_a by jean Barby, sur Flickr C301B62F-3575-44B6-B11E-0DA3C1A2369E_1_201_a by jean Barby, sur Flickr

That would be nice Ian but, remembering the crowds, I think I might skip it this year Also, my favourite bit is the 'after party' and I'm not sure it'll be as much fun with masks… I may be persuaded though if things are getting 'back to normal'. Thanks Terry I should have made it clear that the idea of using different melting points was so that I could do one end (high melting point) and then the other (low melting point). Of course hendie made all that unnecessary by saying it can all be done at once! Last night, tail rotor painted, main body Flory washed: This morning, Flory off: I still need to decide how to mount the rotor head but then I think I can do a final varnish coat and stick on the rest of the bits and PE.

Sorry for gash phots . Bit of a nightmare this one as it has been in the dope shop twice the first time looked good then i sprayed a matt varnish and it reacted.I tried to lightly remove the lacquer layer on the wings with micromesh but that had the effect of polishing the errant layer.....which is what it was supposed to do duh! So stripped it started again and here we are. I have two mk 1 inbound in both the gentlemen and ladies scale ....im not saying which is what lol

Morning all, Rounding off my Century Series project is the 1/72 F-106A from Trumpeter. Overall a very nice kit with excellent fit, my only criticism being the location of the underwing joins not being along a panel line and passing through several smaller panels which made clean up a little awkward. This is built completely OOB using Hataka Orange Line and Alclad paints as always. Trumpeter 1/72 Convair F-106A Delta Dart by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Trumpeter 1/72 Convair F-106A Delta Dart by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Trumpeter 1/72 Convair F-106A Delta Dart by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Trumpeter 1/72 Convair F-106A Delta Dart by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Trumpeter 1/72 Convair F-106A Delta Dart by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Couldn't resist a couple of family pics of all six together. Lockdown has been productive if I do say so myself! 1/72 Century Series by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr 1/72 Century Series by Shaun Schofield, on Flickr Thanks for looking, comments welcomed as always, Shaun

Lots of small bits to make, so not much visible progress, but it's getting there. So bonnet straps made (PE + Tamiya tape) and windscreen washer nozzles added: Numberplate surround, numberplate light and boot handle. I also previously drilled-out the bumper mounting holes (no bumper fitted to this car) and added small PE surrounds. And finally the DB4 tail lights underway. An end is in sight!

hello again & thanks again Well Malc, if Telford is on, I hope to enter my P51, and whatever state this is in I will put it on the WIP part of the 32 SIG stand - it certainly won't be finished by then ..the only part I have actually made are the guns - bits of brass and some PE I made at the beginning - these were pre-painted before assembly so I can get in all the nooks & crannies.. ..the muzzle breech thing had square holes so these were drilled & filed.. ...& painted.. ..the rest has just been rinse & repeat with tape templates & making up panels - I am just going to stop here and do the wing root panels so I don't risk scratching / denting the forward nose panels... ..the guns sort of sit here.. ..back later TTFN Peter

One of things that has really impressed me since joining the forum (other that the friendly nature and sheer talent of the members) is the quality of the photography. So I decided that my table top photos just won't do, so I have invested in a cheap (£23) light box of ebay. I've been experimenting today photographing some of my old builds, I'm still no David Bailey but I do feel its been a step change in my results. So below are my efforts, I build the first 500 after receiving a kit through the post only to find the body damaged beyond repair. It base on the Gunze Kit, scratch built the seats using a soldered wire frame and then used 5 amp fuse wire to weave them. The bumpers are cooper wire and the frame for the awning is brass, with the cover being made from the foil from a wine bottle. I don't really know that much about the Fiat Jollies, other than if I lived in the South of France I'd love one, not sure it would be quite the same in rainy Norfolk 😀. The next one is Tamiya Kit added a roll cage and put the engine cover the horizontal hooligan mode. The Daytona Cobra is the Gunze High-tech kit, the only detail I added was an improvement to the spare wheel securing straps. Thanks again for looking Andy And finally my new light box

Well i think the turret is done sadly all that work on the smoke launchers can't be seen now

I am indeed fine; thanks for asking. Still very little stamina & sleeping a lot (even for a WAFU), but on the mend. Ark untouched since the incident, but thus will not remain the case for long.

And now with the cockpit tub glued onto the underside of the fuselage / nacelle. The main spar (which includes the bulge for the nose wheel) is not yet glued. Even at the sort of magnification that usually has me hiding behind the sofa it still looks pleasing: Here the same bulge seen from underneath; everything in this photo is dry fitted; the fit of this kit is ridiculously good. More soon Crisp

My first time joining a Group Build.... I’m going to build the Whirlybirds 1/72 Sikorsky HH-52A Sea Guard helicopter in USCG colors. It is my first resin kit, too! I figure a helicopter is a good way to start- build the fuselage, and you’re nearly finished!😁 The kit looks nice, and fills an important gap in my collection of US Coast Guard subjects in 1/72. The HH-52 has never been kitted in injected plastic- the closest kit was a 1/48 scale kit of the Sikorsky S-62, the civilian version of the HH-52, by ITC in late 1950s. Tonight I opened up the kit and cut the main fuselage parts free from the pour blocks. So I have officially started!

'69 Dodge Charger is my favorite muscle car. I've never seen this car in my life, but I think it's going to be really cool. 🤩 I thought a lot about which color to paint this car. I saw the picture of the yellow Dodge Charger and painted it like this. Particular detail is very good. I was surprised that the letter 'FUEL' was clearly written on the fuel cap. I hope you like it. Full build video is here;

AP507, 529 Sqdn, Ouston c 1943 (6) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr AP507, 529 Sqdn, Ouston c 1943 (2) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr AP507, 529 Sqdn, Ouston c 1943 (1) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr AP507, 529 Sqdn, K6132, Ouston Stn Flt, L1525, 3 RSS, Ouston, 1940 - 43 (12) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr This is a rather ancient mixed media kit with plastic main parts and rather crude metal bits for the rest. Much cleaning up was required, and most of the various struts were replaced with scratch built items. The propellor came from my long deceased 1950's Airfix Fokker DR.1 (the 'Red Baron'). The Avro 671 Rota was a licence built Cierva C.30A, and it is shown in 529 Squadron markings circa 1943. Based at Duxford but detached to calibrate 'Chain Home' Radar Stations all around the British Isles, including regular visits to RAF Ouston, Northumberland. The Rota would slowly circle a fixed target anchored in the sea at the limit of the Radar's range, and this was effectively at the 'front line' of contact with enemy aircraft. Therefore the Rota would have a fighter escort which also provided radio contact, the Rota not having a radio or an electrical system. At RAF Ouston in 1940 - 41 the fighter escort was provided by the Gloster Gladiators of Ouston's Station Flight. The RAF's Hurricanes and Spitfire fighters had proved useless for this task, as their Merlin engines would rapidly overheat at slow speeds. Thus the Gladiator was used, and at other places the Fleet Air Arm's Skua fighter. It all eventually proved to be unnecessary when, in 1942, an unescorted Rota was attacked by Germany's latest and deadliest fighter, two FW190A. They left having used up all of their ammunition, and the agile Rota flew home without a scratch on it. The other part of the 1941 radar calibration 'service' was the Bristol Blenheim Mk.1, used to simulate larger enemy aircraft, and L1525 is shown. It was on the strength of 3 RSS at Ouston, "radio servicing section" being a 'spoof' designation for this top secret radar calibration work. AP507 was a pre-War civil aircraft G-ACWP, and initially flown as such early in the War before being impressed as AP507. There were only 17 Rotas available at the start of the War, and with very careful maintenance, much rebuilding from spare parts, and the inherent safety of the design, 12 of them survived the War to be re-sold on the civil market in 1946. Four are on now on display in British museums, and AP507 is in the Science Museum London.

Hi all. I do "things that fly" but I got the job of making this model and here it is. The kit is very good in terms of part reproduction fineness but it has a somewhat absurd breakdown. There are times that for a part that could be molded in one go, 5, 6 or more parts are used. I have painted it using the AK color Real color for the green of the Spanish Army. I wanted to have placed a piece of land on it and made it look more used but the owner, who is the one who pays and therefore orders, said that it was a soft outlined with oils and satin varnish. So that's what it is. Andrés S.

Well! I'd really hoped I'd be done today. I thought it would be a slam-dunk to finish, but I forgot that every task on this build takes 3 or 4 times longer than on a regular build. Which is too bad, because I'm kinda done with this one... But first... a catch up on the progress this week. As usual, I only had a few minutes for little tasks all week. On Monday I fixed the "A" on the port side, where the decal had torn. It was pretty straightforward to mask and I airbrushed some off-white on it. Tuesday was "wash day" and wednesday I was able to pencil the panel lines on the bottom. last night I penciled in the panel lines on the tops of the wings. I also worked to add a little depth to the ailerons and flaps. The kit just had scribed panel lines for the aileron and flap hinges. So it is just a flat surface with a thin line going through it, which just doesn't look right. I used a trick I discovered when doing my F/A-18 a couple of years ago, because it suffered from the same issue. I put a piece of Tamiya tape along the hinge line, and then dry brushed black oil paint along the tape edge from front to back. Clearly you don't want to go all the way back, just 4-5 mm. Also, this needs to be done after dull coat (it might work on a gloss coat, but it would likely be a lot harder to do). This is one of those irreversible tasks, so easy does it! As it is, I might have made it a little too dark... I don't know. Here's a close up as an example: It could represent dirt or oil, or shadow... at any rate, it adds a touch of depth to that area making it look contoured when it really isn't. Today was pedal to the metal thinking it would be all finished by afternoon. Yeah right. I penciled in the panel lines on the sides, then did various dirt streaks and exhaust stains with the Tamiya pastels. A final dull coat to seal those in and it was time to unmask the canopy, landing gear bays and exhaust stacks. And that's where things went south... First was the canopy. I thought I was being clever by using bare metal foil to mask the cutouts in the back. A brand new sharp knife blade and the cutouts were trimmed to shape on the canopy. Well... taking them off was an enormous pain. The foil just basically came off in little tiny flakes. I couldn't peel it off, i had to take a toothpick and carefully scrape it off, which smeared the adhesive all over the plastic. I was able to clean it up carefully with some Isopropyl alcohol, but a 10 minute task turned into an hour. Then it was time to take the liquid masking off the exhaust stacks. I didn't like that I had to install the stacks first and then seal up the fuselage. I have never been happy with liquid mask as it never seems to work well for me. But, foolishly I thought this would be a perfect task for it... I figured when I was all done painting I could just roll my finger over the exhausts and roll the liquid mask off. That's usually how it works. I even let it sit overnight on a test piece to make sure that the mask wouldn't react with the Testors metalizer. Unfortunately, the mask was tenacious and clung to the exhausts and just didn't want to let go! In the end this happened: Yeah... so the liquid mask is apparently OK with metalizer overnight, but not for a month! The paint just peeled away. So an hour later, the liquid mask was all off, the liquid mask bottle was in the trash and I was scraping the last remnants of paint off so I could mask and repaint. I just realized I didn't get a picture of that. Well... later. The final task I attempted was gluing the main gear doors in the up position since they were up and locked on the ground. Yeah... right. The manufacturer clearly didn't intend the doors to be in the up position. The doors are too big, and the shape isn't the same as the opening. I fiddled with it a bit but I don't think I can make the door the right shape to fit without major gaps and since it's the end, filling and painting to match would be... well... very difficult to say the least. I really wish I'd thought of it before painting. As it stands I think I will have to put the doors in the down position, even though that's wrong, which will drive me nuts! I messed with making holes for the landing gears to go in and finally got those to work the way I want. So, hopefully tomorrow I will be able to complete the last couple of tasks. Here's where it's at tonight:

Well making a start on this just for something different to do and because there is a very nice gentleman on this site @stevej60 who very kindly gave me some kits he was wanting to clear out from his stash He would not take anything for them even though I tried so I will be making a donation to the Northumberland and Borders Childhood Poverty charity to help out the underprivileged children in his name. Wanted a simple OOB build to do while waiting for some bits to arrive for another project and had been liking what I had saw that @ChrisSC has been building lately on here First will have to fix the bow as it looks as though it has a mould fault and the anchor position should be square not rounded I did say OOB. Stay Safe beefy

Hello everyone, My initial idea was to build Dragon's Sherman II kit in 9th Lancers markings. However, after finding out that all 9L tanks that I was able to identify in my references were Lima built, while Dragon's kit was PSC built one, I decided to build Dragon kit as 3rd Hussars one, that I was able to identify as PSC built tank, and to build Asuka Sherman II kit as 9th Lancers, Lima built tank. It turned out to be an opportunity to compare those two kits. So, there are two finished models in this RFI: Asuka kit No. No. 35-014, built as Lima manufactured tank, identified as T125063, of the 9th Lancers regiment, that participated in El Alamein battle as a part of 2nd Armoured Brigade, 1st Armoured Division. After the battle, regiment participated in a frantic chase for a few days until they reached Fuka. This build is intended to represent the tank that survived the battle and participated in this pursuit. Dragon kit No. 6447, built as PSC manufactured tank identified as T144976 of the 3rd Hussars regiment, that participated El Alamein battle as a part of 9th Armoured Brigade, then attached to 2nd New Zealand Division. This regiment participated in the initial breakthrough during operation Supercharge, suffering great casualties. However, this 9AB brigade charge proved crucial in punching the hole in Axis lines that was heavily exploited afterwards by the 1st Armoured Division. I decided to build this kit as a tank ready for battle, that went through some training during one month period, but is in relatively good condition. Kits are mostly built OOB, with some smaller changes and additions according to the reference photos I was using. The only AM additions are Panda tracks used on Asuka kit, Miniart stowage and AFV Club jerrycans. Decals are combination of kit provided ones, ToRo and Archer Fine Transfers. Both tanks are painted with a combination of Gunze and MRP paints and Vallejo paints for detail painting. Weathered with Mig's Nature effects and pigments. You can find more in WIP section here. Here's the the Asuka 9th Lancers tank: And one on a black background: And here's the real thing I tried to represent: And this is the Dragon, 3rd Hussars tank: Black background: And this is one of the reference photos I was using: Thanks for looking and thanks for feedback! Cheers, Nenad

My latest build is the Antonov-10A in Aeroflot colours. A little background on the An-10: The An-10 is a further development of the An-8. The aircraft was produced at the same time as the An-10 and An-12 (the An-8 was put into service in 1957, the An-10 in 1959). The An-8 was initially intended for military purposes, but was later also used for Aeroflot cargo transports (Eastern Express has a kit of the An-8, FYI) The An-10 was developed and produced at the same time as the An-12. The An-10 as an airliner and the An-12 for the transport of (military) cargo. The main difference between the An-10/12 and the An-8 are the engines (four instead of two respectively) and the pointed nose of the An-8. The An-10 and An-12 are identical up to frame 41, at which point the An-12 starts with the cargo door section. The An-10 was popular with passengers because of the spacious fuselage (4.1 meters) and the fact that the plane could take off from unpaved runways (tickets could in some cases be bought in the plane itself, for example, after which it departed when all tickets were sold, which is hard to imagine today!). The aircraft could hold about 100 passengers, but it was also produced as a passenger / cargo mix (52 passengers, 1040 kg of luggage and 9080 kg of cargo). Incidentally, the An-10 payload / TOW ratio was much lower than that of the Il-18 (which Sergey Il'yushin considered a design flaw of the An-10). However, in the communist Soviet Union there was plenty of kerosene and the benefits of the An-10 were considered more important than economic benefits. However, the An-10 did not become an export success, which the Il-18 did. In total 104 An-10 aircraft have been built. Originally the An-10A had a "triple tails" version like the An-10 sans suffix version, but was later fitted with two central ventral fins at the bottom (this is also the version I have made). This made the device more economical, but it caused much more vibrations in the cabin. Initially, the An-10 was widely used by Aeroflot, but it was not really a success story. During the first few years, there were many reliability issues (from 1959 to 1961, as many as 670 defects had been detected and corrected), as well as some very serious stability and control issues, resulting in a few accidents. The most famous of these was in 1972 when a famous singer and actor was killed. This caused so much public outrage that Aeroflot decided to retire the type in 1973. Thus, the An-10 was the first turboprop airliner to fly in the Soviet Union, the first turboprop airliner to be produced in the Soviet Union, and the first turboprop airliner to be withdrawn in the Soviet Union. The An-12 is still flying today, albeit with low numbers (I have seen them fly over my hometown of Oosterhout, The Netherlands, with a lot of noise, en route to Eindhoven). 1248 of the An-12 were eventually built. The model I have made is from the excellent resin kit from RusAir. Eastern Express and AWM also have kits, but I like the one from RusAir the best, plus I have good experiences with RusAir (see also my Yak-42 and An-148 from a few years ago). The decals are from the Eastern Express kit. All the window decals were made by myself. I used Tamiya white for the top of the fuselage and Inspire Chrome for the belly, wings and stabilizers (with Alclad aqua gloss sprayed over it, to make it less shiny). I used ModelMasters Steel and Aluminium for the other metal parts such as the leading and trailing edges. The wire antennae were made using a hair from my girlfried, which she graciously donated. Anyway, the final result: Edit: I see now that the 74 has disappeard from the starboard side registration. I will correct this later on. And a few in the morning sunlight: This will be my final model for a while, as our second child will be born within two weeks, and that will take up a lot of my time ;). Thanks for looking and see you next time!

Trumpeter 01505 1/35 AVGP Grizzly (Late) Most of my models so far have been WWII aircraft & armour, but I fancied a change this time. This model was used in a step by step guide in a book I've been reading about airbrushing, and I liked the look of it so thought I'd give it a go. It's the first Trumpeter kit I've built and it went together well, apart from a few small parts that needed some fettling to fit. I left off the mud for this one, and went for some post shading and a dusty finish. I also tried to achieve that 'dirty between the treads' look on the tyres, but it didn't quite work. Something to work on in future.

OK, now that was fiddly! Remind me not to do that again. The weather vanes wouldn't really fit into the holes in the probe, so I put in a short bit of 0.008" diameter wire instead, and glued the vanes to that. Plus, the vanes wanted to bend just by looking at them. You can't really see all four of the vanes in the photo, but they're all there. I painted this with GSI Super Chrome Metallic 2, and it is a LOT more shiny that it appears here. It looks like, well, chrome. The tailplanes are on. The antenna have been added to the instrument pods, upper nose, lower spine, in front of the starboard cool exhaust, one on the upper spine, and a probe of some sort on the port side of the vertical fin. Exhausts are on, as well as the gear doors and air brake. The ejection seats and control columns are in, as well as the rear instrument panel and coaming. The rear HUD is waiting for its combining glass. And I don't think I've shown you the belly of the beast: Not all that exciting but I add it here for completeness. Oh, some photoetch rings were added to the sides of the outriggers. Tie downs of some kind? Latches maybe? Not a lot left - a couple of weather vanes for the windscreen and nose, two more antennae for the spine, and the canopies which I'm working on now. Pretty soon! Cheers, Bill

Thanks John and Adrian Losing it a bit this afternoon Dry fitting the rotor head shows that the shaft is the right length: …but that would mean a butt joint in the top. Nasty. Let's have fun drilling holes and trying to fit some nickel silver rod: Patience gone. Better leave it until I calm down!

They are working on the railway at the end of our street - normally inaudible because it is in a cutting, but not last night. Wide awake at 2am, I did some modelling! Not a rubbish Klingon Bird of Prey model, but the first of the 3 nose weights, sitting in the main spar and the lower half of the fuselage: ...and then both fuselage parts glued. Seams barely visible: From above: Meanwhile I have started work on the P-51B - see other thread!

I'd like to present my third completion of the year, the ICM Gloster Sea Gladiator in 1/32 scale, in the markings of N5519 of the Hal Far Fighter Flight, Malta in June 1940. Details of the aircraft and the build are in the thread here if you are interested. Cheers, Stew

And finished! Now I will have to crack on with the much-superior ICM kit, but first I have an appointment with “Anything But Injected”, and I’m not talking vaccinations, either!

With the Viscount finished it s time to turn my attention to the Washington. First was to figure out how much nose weight was required. I taped the main assemblies together and added my weight of choice to the top of the cockpit with the model pivoted around the main gear leg position So, this much It was cut up and glued under the cockpit area Another taped up test and it looks good Then it was time to add the interior subassemblies before no one ever gets to see them again! And then glue applied

You guys are just great with the comments. I'm glad everyone is following along. Hey Guys, This week was installing the cab into the cab frame. The actual install was just slipping this into place, but getting everything to squeeze into the cab when putting the roof on was quite a tight fit. The build for the roof was very simple, and only the interior lamp and the sun visors needed to be built. All I did for the sun visors was a bit of card, wrapped with .05mm styrene rod. This is turned over and secured into place. Once the fit was tight I sealed this up with the remaining cab skeleton top, so the roof is sealed inside permanent. It is such a tight fit in the cab that photos, are what they are. All tightened up and ready for some skin. And it all lives about right here. The skinning of the cab looks to be a ridiculous sort of affair. Wrapping around the cab, much like around the radiator vents. Just crazier. That's it for this week. I had an art commission so not much done. This week ahead, I will find out if this all is a really bad idea with the skin wrap. More photos to come. Thanks All.....

I've not forgotten the Aston. Still some work needed to get the headlamp covers fitting and the front end into a better shape. So a few more bits of styrene glued to the front. I hope this effort yields a worthwhile result.

Another one to my "Falklands collection", this time 1:72 Mirage IIIEA, I-014, 1st Squadron, 8th Air Group Argentine Air Force, Rio Gallegos, May 1982. New Modelsvit kit, built "out of the box" except metal Pitot tube (Master) and squadron emblems decals on the fin (Condor Decals). Painted with Gunze Mr.Color C series. The Modelsvit kit itself is just great - extremely well detailed as for 1:72 scale, crispy molded, well fitted (although a bit complicated - definitely not for beginners). I think it was the best short-run kit I've ever assembled. "Work in progress" topic was on Polish forum: https://www.pwm.org.pl/viewtopic.php?f=884&t=90757 And now some pictures: Thanks for watching!

Greetings all! It's time for a project that I've been planning for well over a year. This year, on May 5, will be the 80th anniversary of the first newly-built* Beaufort Mk.V's first flight. This is not just an anniversary for the airplane though. It's also the first-flight of an airplane built by the Department of Aircraft Production at Fishermans Bend in Melbourne Australia. It just so happens that I now work on that same site. In fact, on most days I walk right through the hangar where it was built on my way to lunch. It's now full of Boeing 787 flaps under construction, and there's no airfield on the other side of the roller doors. Here's a publicly released photo I found on the web. Take my word for it, this is the old Beaufort line: I'm going to attempt to build the new Airfix Mk.1 as this aircraft, numbered T9540 (later renumbered to A9-1). There's a fair bit to modify, much of which I wasn't aware of when I first decided to do this project, but I think it will be manageable. Especially so, if HPM's conversion kit is available before I get to the engines and nacelles. So far, this is what I know I need to change, based mostly on photographs: - Twin Wasp engines (from HPM set) - Larger nacelles with different exhausts (from HPM set) - Curtiss-Electric Propellers (from HPM set) - Remove the gun camera port from the Starboard wing** - Add the gun camera mount on the Starboard side of the nose** - Add some sort of nobbly bit under the oil cooler intakes (might come with the HPM set?) - Remove nobbly bits on upper wing surfaces aft of the engines - Don't add the forward gun or the clear blister under the nose - Don't add guns in the turret (the first few DAP Beauforts were unarmed) - Add spindly little vent(?) on the Port underside of the fuselage Things NOT to modify: - The vertical tail. The first few DAP Beauforts didn't have the extended-chord tail. I've got a set of decals from Print Scale that include T9540 in it's rollout scheme. For now, I'm assuming the aircraft was RAF Dark Earth and Dark Green on the upper surfaces and silver on the lower surfaces. There's a chance it could have been RAAF Earth Brown and Foliage Green, though. Unfortunately, the archives at work aren't catalogued that far back and no-one knows if there's a record of the colour. I've put a query in to the RAAF museum about it, as I was told by our site communications team the that museum have been a good source for that kind of info in the past. Other aftermarket being used are the aforementioned HPM set, Eduard photo-etch set, and Eduard Brassin wheels. There are a few reference photos of T9540, but they're not super abundant. If there are features I can't determine about it, I'll probably assume that it's identical to the next few airplanes that followed it off the production line and were sent to the RAF in Singapore. I've also had a thorough and enjoyable read of @Navy Bird's build of the Special Hobby Beaufort, and may be peeking at it again a few times for ideas and information. I'll definitely be adding a map to the navigator's table, but maybe a more local one of the Melbourne area. Back soon with some photos of the construction! *I'm not counting L4448, which was converted to use Twin Wasps by CAC "next door" ** I was only able to work this one out thanks to the discussion on @Rabbit Leader's build thread, so thanks everyone for that! Edit 21/7/2021, here are a few more photos. Hopefully this post will be a useful reference if anyone else is looking to model T9540.

As promised over in the build thread HERE I am posting the final pics of the model: This model was on the Shelf Of Doom since shortly after the kit came out (2004?), and I'm glad to have finally bitten the bullet, and now have it to add to the collection. I hope some of you out there will give one a try! Ed

Closed up. Final details and dirt still to add. ICM M1917 Ambulance by Jon Gwinnett, on Flickr ICM M1917 Ambulance by Jon Gwinnett, on Flickr ICM M1917 Ambulance by Jon Gwinnett, on Flickr ICM M1917 Ambulance by Jon Gwinnett, on Flickr ICM M1917 Ambulance by Jon Gwinnett, on Flickr

More done....keep plugging away.👍 Apologies now, time has been tight so it's been a toss up between keeping up with BM and progressing the build.... Further weathering done on the Pzr III, mostly rust staining around the mild steel brackets, fastenings, exhausts etc. And of course tracks completed and fitted along with wheels. Tracks in all honesty arn't all that bad, one side did break up whilst fitting but worked out ok in the end. Perhaps if I'd been a little more careful in the assembly they would have worked better but they do the job! RFM suggests 91 links per side.... the bottom pic has 90 links and still a tad slack the top 89. Tracks treated so far with a pale grey undercoat followed by a coat of AK track wash, the contact surfaces have had a run over with polished steel pigment. Tools painted and fitted, still have a few bits and pieces to add to the hull before moving onto the turret but starting to look something like..🤞 So essentially a weeks work has got us too... Once it nears completion I'll add more weathering, mud etc, around the tracks, running gear and lower hull. Thanks for looking Darryl

Hello guys, In the meantime I’ve been involved with other projects, but after a long time I am back with this kit, now until the complete construction. Well, the turret is practically finished, only very few details need to be added, like two circular caps welded to the sides of the turret, missing in the kit. The metal gun tube is already assembled. I have detailed both the driver's hatch, both that of the radio operator-gunner, replacing the plastic parts by the DEF Model resin pieces and photoetched. I have completed the front hull with some details too. That's all for now folks

"I 'vish I never volunteer for 'zis special secret panzer outfit....."

Finally some progress. I started with the bang seat as usual. This is the kit one with masking tape belts and a bit of folded paper painted olive drab for the cushion backrest thing. I also made a little pull cord from wire and used sprue offcuts for the buckles. I reckon that’ll do for the cockpit. It’s a pretty tight fit with the seat in there, although I will be displaying it canopy open. Always nice to have instrument decals instead of having to try painting them. They’ll look neater once fitted into the fuselage. Not sure why Airfix didn’t make the instrument panel the same shape as the decal!

More done, little bit of grime inside added, not gone mad as the came into service mid 1918 so never saw a winter in the field. One issue found, or was it me ? The rear of the roof was too wide to fit so had to sand about 1mm off each side, luckily the track will cover the rivets that are now gone. Primed in Stynlelrez Black primer, like these primers - go on very easy no messing about And main Colour added first coat, using Hataka Khaki Brown SCC 2, used this as it seems a pretty close match to what I have read in various other posts Bit of a finger print to sort ooppsss Putting these together has been a pain, not to keen on the moulding method used to join the panels together, found it tricky to get them to line up, the circled part shows internal rivet detail where the roof should go. Cheers for looking Mark

I am still not enjoying CAD/Fusion360 and so for now and the reasonably distant future it is still hands to the Swann-Mortons. The front suspension section is now under scrutiny with wheels being a worse nightmare than they used to be. One wheel is done, some others aren't because spoking whilst allowing the offset for the hub angle is driving me bonkers. My solution? Make a wheel a week then the load on my mind will be reduced. In the mean time I have begun carving the futchells, futchells? Don't ask me but that is what they are labelled on the plans, the futchells attach the forecarriage to suspend and steer the axle via the draught pole which has connections for the horses. Not quite Detroit Pony Power but it is what it is. As you will no doubt realise this bit has been somewhat daunting too but at last the nettle is grasped, the die is cast. I took a scan of my 1/32 scaled plan, not the big one above, and marked out the planform of the futchell on one side and then cut out the blacked out piece of the horseybussey puzzle to stick to a laminated pair of 0.080" plasticard pieces. Then into the bench vise to start carving shapes. This bit I do like, lots of white dust all over the shop. I have always loved bench file work since my days in the tool-room, here we are getting somewhere at last. Getting close! SIHRSC* strikes again, just some gentle wiping with the needle file to take it to separation point now then I can begin assembling the framework. OK that is it for now, more later when i will introduce you to the first wheel too. * for those of you not previously sullied by my misuse of our flowering language I proffer an explanation. Six Inch Half Round Second Cut is a carry-over from my days in the toolroom, the second cut half round file being Mr/Mrs Ubiquitous, the very versatile engineering file which far outstrips any needle files or other more generally used modelling tools in my repertoire. Take a swipe of the work piece and you feel the teeth beginning to bite then suddenly as if by magic the roughness will go out of the stroke and you will feel the file begin making the exact cuts you want. My friend over many years of modelling endeavour and the new best friend of many model makers to whom I have introduced her. Try one, they're versatile and gentle at second cut, the measure of cutting power for files. ba st ar d the very proper name for a coarse file is too coarse. Smooth not cutty enough for most of my work.

Smoke dischargers done and detailed .....i'm sure those of you who have built a 35th Tiger can appreciate just how small these are...so you can probably also appreciate the amount of blue language that was mumbled under my breath as i assembled these ...i made one teardrop electrical connector attached it to a piece of wire then pushed it into plasticine 10-12 times the cast them in resin ......cut the time down a little and ensured they would all look roughly the same.....the smoke tubes were done from brass tube and i made a small jig so i could cut the slots in without to much deviation there too...bolt heads and nuts were from a Meng set...and 50 gauge copper wire to do the wiring just a touch of lead foil to do the small tube mount bolts.

God evening Gentlemen Well, the first part of the car, the tubular frame ("bird cage") is achieved. Of course, I've added a few parts, as for the first MB, in order to enhance the model and match closely with the real. 😉 So, instead of 12 parts OOB, we have now, for the same 2 steps of the instructions, 41 parts 😲 Contrary to the first time, I didn't want to use pieces of brass rod and CA gel, only plastic; As I haven't I my workshop, 1.0 mm, 0.8 mm, neither 1.2 mm styrene rod, I've scratched almost all the 29 additional parts using what I have in the kit: the plastic of the sprues ! Of course, it has been stretched using the heat of my Proton torch, and then the lengths have been adjusted according to needs of use The only 3 parts I haven't scratched have been 3D printed. Now the frame has received its first coat of primer and here is the result, neat and rather nice Stay tuned for next steps 🤔

Another one but in 1/48th Revell Kaydet in RCAF colurs. Love this kit!!!

Evening everyone, Archer Fine Transfers decals for 3H tank finally arrived, after traveling for 3 months around the globe (literally). So I was able to finally finish my Dragon build. The only problem I encountered is that for some reason, dry-transfer was not working. It seems that there's no problem with decals, I tested them on different surfaces and it worked. They didn't want to adhere to this tank in particular So I had to use film to convert them to wet transfers and this worked perfectly. This time, I decided to go with a cleaner finish, so I did everything the same as I did with 9L build, just toned weathering down a bit. Here's the result: I added few German jerrycans because they were used a lot in this period by the British. And here's the real thing. Both Dragon and Asuka kits are really nice and both of them have some smaller accuracy issues, as I mentioned earlier in this thread. Dragon kit is maybe a bit more detailed and offers more spare parts while Asuka kit is more joy to build (Dragon's PE sand shields are really painful to deal with). I really think that you can't get wrong with any of them. If it's a version with Magic Tracks (mine version was with DS tracks unfortunately), I would probably go for Dragon, otherwise, I would go for whichever is available. Just have in mind that Dragon kit is missing 50 cal MG, so you will have to get it elsewhere. That's it I would say, they'll go to RFI soon. Cheers and thanks for looking, Nenad